


Annie Ever After

by Allyjayrunaway



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Annie just wants true love man, Daydreaming, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, series of one shots set in various periods throughout the show
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26357437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allyjayrunaway/pseuds/Allyjayrunaway
Summary: She thinks about it far too much. Dreams about it. But when it comes to the real world, Annie has realised that love is a lot messier than it necessarily should be.
Relationships: Annie Edison/Abed Nadir, Annie Edison/Britta Perry, Annie Edison/Jeff Winger, Troy Barnes/Annie Edison
Comments: 13
Kudos: 27





	1. Troy

**Author's Note:**

> Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I have to take two weeks off of work, and I wanted to give myself a challenge to write a series of one shots while I have the time. So here we go. Obligatory shout out to the the discord #fanfics crew, you’re all amazing and I spend way too much time with y’all. Especially Bequeathment Sperm, Mirage, and B.

The thundering crowd behind her rises to their feet as she takes her position, making sure to swish the skirt of her uniform flamboyantly in the process. Her team only ever performs the basket toss on the winning touchdown of the game, and since Troy had made quarterback, she’d gotten plenty of practice. She has to actively resist the urge to sigh dreamily as her eyes fall to him, slipping out of the pocket to rocket a pass directly into the end zone, perfectly on target. She feels rather than hears the collective intake of breath, and her heartbeat hammers into overdrive. _Go time_.

Flipping through the air, she can’t help but grin, never tiring of that distinct feeling of weightlessness. She spots the scoreboard as it ticks over and adds her voice to the cacophony of the cheering crowd as she lands perfectly back in her teammates’ arms. Everything is going better than she ever could have imagined; senior year at Riverside High is fulfilling every wish she’d ever made. She, Annie Edison, is captain of the Cheerleading squad, dating quarterback and prom king-hopeful Troy Barnes, and she’s already been accepted into the Carnegie Mellon Institute School of Forensics. Nothing can possibly go wrong.

Her grin feels like it might split her head open, but as Troy comes jogging over to wrap her in his arms, that doesn’t matter. All that matters is that she’s got her whole life ahead of her and it’s perfect. She feels the warmth as he drapes his jacket over her shoulders and revels in the glares shot at her by some of the less popular girls.

As she looks deep into his eyes, she feels the blush creeping up her neck. She knows he has to keep up a certain reputation with the boys, but he has never been anything but a perfect gentleman with her. She giggles again, sheepishly, and he gives her a quick wink.

“Be right back, baby.” He drawls at her, before sprinting of to join a rather boisterous looking huddle at center field. She’s glad for the railing against which she is currently leaning, with the way her knees threaten to buckle as he trails off into the distance.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Later, as she’s safely ensconced by his side, throngs of people coming to congratulate them on an amazing game, she can’t help but think about how perfect this year is going to be. Troy gives her another wink and leans in gently for a kiss. Off in the distance, a car alarm starts blaring, though she doesn’t notice, lost as she is in his warm brown eyes and gentle smile.

Just as his lips are but a whisper away from her own, the alarm starts up again, much closer. She’s leaning forward, reaching out to him as he dissolves into the void, and then she’s sitting upright in the bedroom of her shitty apartment, alarm clock going nuts beside her. She groans and flops back into her pillow before dutifully getting up to make breakfast. She’s late for her pre-class self-debrief, but this time she doesn’t really feel that bad about it.


	2. Jeff Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Study group? What study group?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to discord chat, y’all are great love ya  
> Side note: these are in no particular order

Her gaze wanders around the study room, taking in the various bulletin boards filled with the activities and requests of students long passed. She wonders if she’s always going to feel this far removed from everything. How long someone can remain an outsider before they sort of just fade away.Her attention snaps back into focus as the door swings open and the interesting guy in the sweatpants-jacket combo strolls in. Jeff, that’s what his name is, had cornered her in the macaroni line and asked if she’d be willing to help him study for the Spanish test next week, and considering the state of her social life, she’d been in no place to decline. It didn’t hurt that he’d looked at her with those piercing blue eyes, just a hint of desperation breaking in around the edges.

He takes a seat adjacent to her, and leans back, Spanish textbook abandoned in front of him. He fixes her with a smirk that she can tell gets a lot of mileage.

“So, um, it’s Annie, right?” He leans forward, like he’s awaiting her response, and she doesn’t think anyone has listened to her this intently in her whole life, and he’s only asked her name.

“Yeah, Annie, that’s me.” She says, forcing a smile across her face and trying not to let her awkwardness show through. “Jeff, right?” He bobs his head and chuckles.

“Yep. So, I have a confession to make. I... don’t really know how to study.” He grimaces slightly and runs a hand through his hair. “I kind of...adapted my way through school the first time, but I have a feeling that’s not going to work this time around. I really need to figure out how to get this stuff done.” He seems...vulnerable. Like he’s never had to admit to not being perfect before, but she gets it. It’s easy to show the world one exterior and then have to deal with the fallout when that’s all they see from you.

“Well, the way each person studies most effectively is unique to them, but there are quite a few tried and true methods that we can take a look at if you’d like.” She says, automatically switching into tutor mode. She turns to grab her purple binder and a pen, but he looks hesitant.

“I didn’t actually bring anything with me.” That slight grimace is back, and she wonders why he’s confiding in her when he’s obviously so uncomfortable doing so. She motions toward his textbook on the table.

“Well, you brought the most important thing, so for now we can just study together. Plus, it’ll help with our pronunciation.” He seems oddly relieved, as if he were expecting her to go crazy because he didn’t bother to bring either a pen or paper to school. At one point, maybe she would have, but after everything she’s been through it seems pointless.

“Okay. But, um, how do we get started?” She flashes him a smile and is pleased to notice his eyes drop down to her lips for a second. She opens her book and scoots it between them so he can see the words.

“We’re supposed to read through chapters two and three, and compile a list of at least 5 of our favourite colours, so we’ll do that.” Satisfied, she turns to the open page and begins reading through the admittedly outdated text.

“Um. Annie?” He says in a quiet voice, closer than she thought.

“Yeah?”

“I’m dyslexic.” The look on his face is equal parts terrified and hopeful, and she thinks that maybe this study group thing wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

“I have ADHD, so I feel your pain. But we can get through this, and I think you’ll find that once you know where to start, it’s not so bad.” She gives him another smile and is relieved when he returns it with one of his own, a much more sincere counterpart to his cool-guy smirk.

They spend the next hour taking turns reading out loud, once he tells her he thinks he might be an auditory learner. She finds it surprisingly easy to be patient with him, and he’s a quick learner even though he switches his letters up more than she would have thought possible. The pace is a somewhat agonising switch up from her normal schedule, but if she’s honest with herself, taking some extra time to review and discuss is incredibly helpful. After they’ve finished the chapters, she gives him some paper and one of her pens, and they each write out their assigned list. She’s surprised that his second favourite colour is yellow, given that she can’t see anything he owns that isn’t black or grey. She’s also surprised that he doesn’t complain about his assignment being completed in purple ink. Overall, he just seems grateful that she’s there, and she’s loath to admit that they’ve basically finished up.

“Hey, do you want to meet up tomorrow? Given Señor Chang’s...style of teaching, we may need to do this all over again.” He says it like it’s a foreign concept, doing this again, and she can’t stifle the laugh before it’s out.

“Jeff, it’s a class, we’re going to have to do this most of the time.” He looks like he’s sucked a lemon. “But if it helps, then I’ll be here. Same time, same place?” He nods.

“Okay, cool. I had fun.” She admits, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. When she looks back up at him, she swears he’s a shade pinker than he was a moment before. She grabs her backpack and gives him a wave, but stops when he calls out her name.

“It’s getting kinda late, and I haven’t really eaten...do you want to go grab dinner?” It’s so casual, but the look on his face says otherwise. She doesn’t know what to do, she’s never really been in this situation before...

“Annie?”

“Annie!” She startles, looking around the table to see that Abed has been trying to get her attention.

“We need you to help us solve a dispute.” Abed regards her coolly, like he knows exactly what’s been going through her mind.

“Okay.” She sighs, knowing the moment has been lost but still wishing she could retreat into that part of her mind that shows her just exactly what she wants.


End file.
